Farr Leads 3rd Dist. in Campaign Money
While 3rd District Supervisor Brooks Firestone’s $10,000 gift to candidate David Smyser was one of the most impressive of all contributions disclosed in the semi-annual statements turned in by candidates for 3rd District supervisor last week-Smyser was once Firestone’s chief of staff-the most curious contributions were also under Smyser’s name. More than half of the $54,894 Smyser brought in came from only six organizations. Four contributions were from San Francisco entities: Cathedral Hill Associates, L.P.; G&G Marco, Stevenson Street Associates, L.P.; and Western Mart Co., L.P. Only Cathedral Hill Associates has a Web site, which describes it as a “hotel company” with hotels in Seattle, Dallas, and La Mirada, California. A search of the Santa Barbara County Assessor’s database turned up no property owned by any of the San Francisco groups.
Despite the fact that the four, outside of Firestone, gave the largest contributions to his campaign, Smyser said he wasn’t familiar with them or any interests they might have in the county. The other two contributions came from New York real estate developer Alvin Dworman-who built and owns Bacara Resort in Goleta-and Bacara president B.J. Hoppe. Second District Planning Commissioner Doreen Farr raised $95,339 in contributions and loans for her campaign. Her largest donation came from Richard Whited of Quicksilver Trading Investment Company, who gave $16,600. Farr currently has $54,936 in the bank. Candidate Steve Pappas received a total of $21,000 from four entities in the six-month cycle, while Dr. David Bearman raised $23,464 in 2007.
